Venetian blind



` Allg- 28, 1951 '.1. B. GRIFFITH ETAL. 2,566,191

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Aug. 5 1, 1949 ,f l V I ATTORNEY Patented ug. 28,1951 VENETIANBLIND John B. Griffith and Bylfon- C. Dutton-Riverside,Calif.; said Dutton assigner-to saidGrifiith Application August 31,l949,`-SerialNo.113,344

2 Claims.

This invention relates to Venetian blinds, and moreparticularly tocertain improvements in the construction and arrangement thereof wherebythe slats can be detached and removed therefrom with a minimum of eiiortand without disconnecting supporting straps, or lifting cords.

Among the salient objects of the invention are: to provide in Venetianblind construction an arrangement wherein the lifting cords do not passthrough the slats, but at the edges thereof, whereby7 the slats can beremoved without interference with the lifting cords;

To provide a supporting bar for the supporting straps and slatstherebetween having a cordreceiving channel in its top side with thelifting cords running in said channel, one of them to therst pair ofsupporting straps and thence downwardly along the inside of one of saidstraps, at the edge `of the slats therebetween, and the othercordrunning in said channel to the opposite end thereof `and to theopposite side of said supporting bar and thence downwardly along theinside of the supporting strap, at the edge of the slats therebetween,said cords running down to the usual weight bar which is raised whensaid cords are pulled;

To provide in connection `with such a supporting bar and the arrangementof the lifting cords,fladder elements between the pairs of supportingstraps, staggered at the opposite sides of alternate slats, whereby thelifting cords can be extended down along the inside of said supportingstraps, between the staggered ladder elements connecting the pairs ofstraps;

To provide an improved means for detachably connecting the slats to theladder elements, whereby said slats can be easily removed for cleaningwithout interference with supporting strapaladder elements, or liftingcords.

To provide as one means for detachably connecting a slat to a ladderelement, an element having a wing, the free end of which extends alongthe under side of a slat, lengthwise thereof, with its attached partremovably held through an opening in said slat, whereby said element canbe detached from the slat, or the ladder element can be removed from thefree end of said element or the wing part thereof.

Other advantages and objects of the invention will appear from thefollowing more detailed description of one practical embodiment thereof,taken with the accompanying sheet of drawings, on which the invention isillustrated, and in Which Figure 1 is a front view of a Venetian blindIl o' 2 embodying our,- invention, with partsof thel'supporting Ystrapsbroken i away tof-show the uinside arrangement;

,ligure 2.isa plan view-looking `down on-the supporting ibar, withavpartxof a coverfslat removed to show the cord-receivingy channelf inthe `top of said supporting bar;

liigure 3 is an enlargedtop plan view of -the `supporting bar, withthemiddle portion broken out tofr'educe the size ofthe viewyandpartsofithe supporting straps broken away to showlthe arrangement of thecords and the guiding pulleys;

iFigure 4 is a plan view of one of the slats, taken on line i-4, of Fig.1, with `the middlelportion broken out, and showing one of the attachingelements for 'attaching the Hslat to Lthe Ylladder element;

Figure 5- isa sectional view, `taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, Vshowingan attaching element,

\ having two `wing portionswith its middle'portion inserted through theslat, and showing one'o'f the ladder elements between the i slat andsaid= wing portion;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional View through the supportingbar, taken on line G-I-E,

of Fig. l, showing the attached supporting straps, and a cover slat overthe top, under the straps.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary edge view of one end of the supporting bar,showing the cords and the rollers on `which said cords move.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a supporting bar is designatedIn, with the usual pivot supports at its opposite ends, designated I Iand I2, said bar having a cord-receiving channel I3 in its top,extending lengthwise thereof, with cord-guiding pulleys or rollers, asat I4, at one end of said supporting bar, and as at I5, at the other endof said bar and on the opposite side thereof, as seen in Fig. 3, wherebythe two cords, I5 and I'I, are extended up through said supporting bar,as at I8, with the usual cord grip mechanism I9, over a guide pulley 20.One of said cords I6 extends to the first pair of guide rollers, 2l andthence down to the weight bar, designated 22, along the inside of thefirst supporting strap 23, which extends over the top of the supportingbar, and down to the weight bar 22, as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Theother cord I1 extends in said channel I3, to the opposite end of saidbar, and to the opposite side thereof, and out around a pulley 24, anddown over a roller 25, and downwardly along the inner side of asupporting strap 26, to the weight bar 22. By this arrangement saidcords are separated and are turned downwardly from opposite ends andopposite sides of said supporting` bar, `as clearly shown in Fig. 3, anddo not interferehwith each other. The supporting straps 23 and 26, atopposite ends of the supporting bar, vand the weight bar, are in pairsin the usual manner, with ladder elements, a-s 21, connecting the strapsof each pair, and being staggered, as will be clear from Fig. 1, lwherea part of one strap 23 is broken away.

The lifting cords I6 and l1, extending from the supporting bar I0 downto the weight bar 22, extend along the inner sides of two of thesupporting straps, but at opposite sides, and at opposite edges of theslats, designated 28, and do not pass through the slats, as is the usualarrangement. This makes it possible to remove the slats from between thetwo pairs of supporting straps, resting upon the connecting ladderelements, designated 21, as shown.

We will now describe our means for connecting the slats With theconnecting ladder elements 21, whereby said slats can be readilydetached and removed.

We accomplish this by providing the slat with an element having a wingportion extending along the under side of the slat, lengthwise thereof,with a free end, whereby the ladder element can be inserted between theslat and the wing portion. This attaching element can be -Inade with oneor two wing portions and can be variously attached to the slat.

In Fig. 5, we have shown an attaching element having its middle portion,designated 29, formed into an arch or knob adapted to be sprung throughthe opening 30 through the slat, said attaching element having two wingportions, as 3l, 32, extended lengthwise of the slat to which it isattached, with the outer ends bent toward the slat, thus forming aslideway at each end, transversely of the slat 28, to receive the ladderelements 21, one of which is shown in place transversely through saidslideway, over the lwing portion 32.

By removing the attaching element from the slat, the slats are left freeand smooth for easy cleaning. l'f desiredl the slats can be removed byremoving the ladder elements from between the slat and the wing portion,thus removing the slat with the attaching element still connectedtherewith.

Thus we have provided a combination supporting and tilting bar, with thelifting cords carried in its channel andv removable therewith as aunitary structure, without the necessity of detaching said cords fromxed or permanent structure, and have run the cords at opposite sides ofie bar, at its opposite ends, so as to have the minimum oi interferenceof cord with cord and whereby to position the cords at the oppositeedges of said tilting bar, under supporting straps at opposite ends andon opposite sides of said leaving clearance between the pairs of strapsand the cords running along the inner sidesJ of (lll said straps, forthe slats to be removably inserted thereon, upon the ladder elementsconnecting the pairs of straps.

Another important feature of our invention, as seen in Figs. 2 and 6, isto so attach the supporting straps to the tilting rail l0, that acovering slat, as 33, can be slipped under the strap over the top ofsaid tilting rail I0, whereby to cover the channel, cords and rollers,as will be understood from Fig. 6. The supporting straps are carriedover the top of the tilting rail and stapled to the edges of said rail,at opposite sides, as indicated in Fig. 3, at 23 and 26. This covers thecords and mechanism and also leaves a nish on top which keeps out thedust and dirt.

We do not limit our invention to the details of construction andarrangement here shown for illustrative purposes, except as we may belimited by the hereto appended claims.

We claim:

l. 1n combination with the supporting straps and their ladder elementsfor supporting the slats of Venetian blinds, of slats having holestherethrough, there being one hole between the supporting straps at theopposite edges of said Slat, and a spring metal clip having a portionbent into an arch-like knob to be sprung through said hole, and havingits free end underlying said slat to receive said ladder element betweenthe Slat and said free end, whereby said slat is detachable from saidsupporting straps and said ladder elements.

2. In combination with the supporting straps and their ladder elementsfor supporting the slats of Venetian blinds, of slats to be inserted:between said supporting straps and resting upon said ladder elements,each slat having a hole therethrough positioned between said supportingstraps and between said ladder elements, and detachable clips havingtheir middle portions formed into an arch-like knob to be pressedyieldingly through the hole in said slat, with its free ends extendedunder said slat to receive said ladder elements between said free endsand the under side of said slat, whereby said slats can be removed fromsaid supporting straps and ladder elements by pulling said clips fromsaid holes.

` JOI-1N B. GRIFFITH. BYRON C. DUTTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 138,761 Potter, Jr May 13, 18732,103,394 Wade Dec. 28, 1937 2,137,444 Clancy Nov. 22, 1938 2,200,349Walker May 14, 1940 v2,307,278 Krantz Jan. 5, 1943 2,311,716 walker Feb.23, 1943 2,317,660 Williams Apr. 27, 1943

